Monday, March 31, 2014

Sixth Sense and Reactionary Gaps


Sixth-Sense and Reactionary Gaps:

Sixth-Sense, sometimes called the “etheric-sense” is a natural self-protection warning system that is hard wired into each and every one of us.  It is that feeling you get when your sub-conscious mind (limbic system) picks up a potential threat. Some people describe it as a “gut-feeling” or when the hairs on the back of your neck stand up… Either way it is there to protect us and you should always listen to it.

(Note: if someone’s body-language contradicts his/her verbal, ALWAYS believe the non-verbal. NV is a sub-conscious behavior and much, much harder to fake. Verbal is conscious and easier to fake/mislead.)

Reactionary-Gap refers to the minimum distance you should have between you and another person whom you believe may be a threat to you. This “Gap” should span between 6 – 31 feet depending on various indicators (visual of a weapon, multiple threats, and force disparity).  It takes the average person 1.5 – 3.0 seconds to re-act to a sudden threat stimulus under the best of conditions.  The above “gap” or distance between you and the threat allows time for you to re-act.

When your sixth-sense alarm is sounding, you need to transition into a heightened sense of awareness and increase your reactionary gap. That can mean telling someone to “stop” or “don’t come any closer” in a firm and loud voice, or putting obstacles between you and the person. This is not the time to worry about hurting someone’s feelings or being socially gruff. If someone is causing your sixth-sense to alarm to go off, it means your sub-conscious has identified some level of threat. Social niceties are when that alarm is dormant.

Situational awareness is you best tool here. Being aware can minimize the “perceived-opportunity” that criminals look for. Statistically, over 80% of crimes are crimes of opportunity. Take away the opportunity, and significantly reduce the odds of a crime happening.

 

Training Dates - civilian


Two upcoming Tactical Knife Options-civilian training dates: 

The next level II TKO class is set for May 02 (17:00-21:00 hours) at the Centennial Gun Glub. If you are interested, here is a link to the registration page. There are still slots open. http://centennialgunclub.com/training/edgedweapons/tactical-knife-options-civilian-concepts-level-ii/

The next Level I class is set for May 03 (09:30-13:30 hours)at the BluCore shooting center. Here is a link to the registration page:
http://www.blucoreshootingcenter.com/p-64217-tactical-knife-options-level-i.aspx

 Let me know if you have any questions

Friday, March 28, 2014

Safety Tip: Car-Jacking,

Safety Tip: Car-Jacking,

The odds are very much against this happening. With that said, you don't want to be that person saying "I never thought it would happen to me" to the news reporter... How do you prepare?

 Four things you can do to prepare:

 1. The world does exist outside of ten feet in front of your bumper. Most people get sucked into only seeing what is right in front of their vehicle. Break that visual bubble and be aware of your surroundings. In Escape & Evade driving courses, they teach to always be looking 100 yards in front of you. When your vehicle is stopped (at a light) that is a time of vulnerability; not the time to be on your phone.

 2. Keep your doors locked until it is time to exit your vehicle.

 3. Be wary of slight bumps from the rear. This is a tactic the bad-guys use. You get rear-ended and the first thing you want to do is get out and look for damage. Not always, but there is a chance that this is a ploy to get you out of the vehicle so they can overwhelm you and take it. Survey first and look for other warning signs before deciding to exit.

 4. Seal-belt extraction: Nothing worse than trying to or needing to exit your vehicle quickly and getting tangled up in the belt. Practice the “swim” technique so that you can disengage the belt locking device and access a weapon at the same time. Minimize your down time.

Just a few tips on how to have the proper prepared mindset… Don’t rely on others or circumstance to make you safe; make your circumstance safe. When it is time to “go”, go hard……

Video example of the "swim" technique:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJ-phG00VM&feature=youtu.be

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Vehicle Ambush Training

http://www.policemag.com/channel/careers-training/articles/2014/03/vehicle-ambush-training.aspx

6 ways cops can aid their lawyers to win use-of-force litigation.


Force Science #252

I. 6 ways cops can aid their lawyers to win use-of-force litigation.   

Are you an officer who has been involved in use-of-force hearings or litigation, or are you an attorney who represents LEOs when their force decisions are reviewed or challenged?

If so, we'd like to hear your views on how an officer can best help a lawyer in preparing the strongest defense possible after an OIS or other major force confrontation. What, in your experience, are key do's and don'ts of working with an attorney to get a justified, favorable resolution?

To stimulate responses, Force Science News put that issue recently to Heather White, a Salt Lake City police liability attorney. White is a graduate of the Force Science certification course, and a past president of the Utah chapter of the Federal Bar Assn.

Here are six tips she offers after nearly 20 years of defending officers in federal civil rights/excessive force lawsuits. Note that some suggestions have to do with your actions before a lawyer is even involved.

AGREE? DISAGREE? Have OTHER LESSONS you've learned the hard way?
Send your comments to: training@forcescience.org.

1. DETAIL YOUR TRAINING. "It's important to educate your lawyer, in detail, about what you were trained to do, how you were trained to do it, and why you did it in the circumstances you faced," White says. "This helps the attorney talk about the 'objective standard' behind your actions in a way that judges and jurors can understand."

Example: An officer standing with a DUI suspect outside a pickup truck suddenly performed a foot sweep that tumbled the driver to the ground. "On the dash-cam video, it looked like the officer just walked up and dumped the guy," White says.

What the camera didn't show was the offender tensing up when the officer touched his shoulder, then starting to lurch back toward the cab. The officer explained, from his training and experience, about the danger cues of certain body language and the potential risk of the suspect reaching a weapon inside the truck--concepts the average naive juror wouldn't think of.

"Being able to show that officers are trained to see and react to things differently from civilians helps jurors accept that in that situation, they would have done the same thing," White says.

2. DROP YOUR FACADE. "It's very important for judges and juries to see an officer who has been in a shooting as a human being and not just a robotic force," White says.

She urges clients to "take off the emotionless professional facade" and express their feelings to her honestly. "I want to know how they feel after the act and what emotion went through their mind just before they shot, when they thought they were about to be separated from their family forever or realized they were about to take a human life."

Some are "sad, even weepy," others angry about having been forced into a him-or-me choice. "Whatever their genuine emotions, a good attorney can work with it in court to humanize the officer and counter the media image of cops as people who like guns and like being aggressive. Digging through the tough mental armor can help build the picture of an officer who didn't take a necessary decision to shoot lightly."

3. LEAVE WIGGLE ROOM. "When describing your shooting, in your statement or in testimony, leave a little bit of room for error. This is critical," White says.

"Rather than being too specific about times, distances, and other factors that can be measured independently and also compared to the testimony of other witnesses, its usually best to avoid absolutes. Forensics may prove you and your certainties wrong.

"When life-threatening events happen as fast and under as much stress as most shootings, it's usually impossible to register all details with precision. So it's really more accurate to describe what you thought you saw or experienced--how things seemed to be from your unique perspective.

"When you don't lock your attorney into rigid specifics, you make it easier to introduce human limitations of perception and memory and to address or avoid potential inconsistencies."

4. THINK AHEAD. Evaluate what you say and do at the scene of a confrontation in terms of "whether you'd like to see it replayed on a big screen in a federal court house," White advises.

Example: A woman who had tried to help her husband escape from police was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. In conversation with an officer, she became highly agitated and belligerent, baiting him at one point by asking: "What are you gonna do, stomp on me?" "No," the officer replied, "I'm gonna smash you in the face!"

"He was being sarcastic," White explains, "but what he said was captured on the audio of a back-facing camera." In court, "this didn't play well to the jury," and gave White as the officer's attorney a problem of "unprofessional conduct" to deal with that distracted from the core of the case. "The officer could have prevented that by simply ignoring her," White says.

5. PROVIDE REAL-TIME COMMENTARY. "If you're not recording your encounters these days, chances are that someone else is," White says. Thus, your communication style becomes indelible and not easily backpeddled in court.

When circumstances permit, White strongly favors explaining to subjects why you are instructing or asking them to do things rather than simply ordering them to comply. "In litigation, this can be helpful to have recorded," she says. "If you're able to explain as you go along why you're asking or doing something, it helps the jury understand your thinking and your actions.

"Of course, don't compromise your safety by talking when you should be acting immediately. Officer safety is paramount. But when possible, explaining creates better rapport and tends to give you more credibility with a jury."

6. NAIL WITNESSES ASAP. "Never underestimate the value of getting statements from witnesses right away, before they have a chance to fabricate things to suit their biases," White says. "The sooner you get even an informal preliminary statement, the less tainted it's likely to be."

Example: When a long pursuit of a stolen truck through multiple jurisdictions finally ended in the barnyard of the suspect's own rural residence, the driver hopped from the cab and started walking toward an open field. "As officers came after him, he suddenly whirled around in a shooting stance, with an object in his hand," White recalls. Without hesitation, two officers fired at the subject and killed him.

"Turned out he was not holding a gun," White says. "He was pressing a knife against his wrist."

As the smoke cleared, a county officer immediately approached a man who'd been working on a truck in the yard and asked him what he'd seen. He wrote down the man's exact words: "I even thought he had a gun."

The witness was the suspect's brother-in-law. Later when the family filed a suit claiming that the shooters should have known the suspect was not brandishing a gun and posed no urgent threat, "the statement was critical to the jury's determination that the officers were justified in shooting," White says.

If you're a shooting officer at a scene, your involvement with witnesses will likely not be practical or desirable. "But often," she says, "there are other officers present who can readily take up this important task."

These brief tips are a just few of many that could be offered. Let us know what you'd like to share about working successfully with attorneys at: training@forcescience.org

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

how fast is a knife attack?

How fast is a knife attack? One homeless guy attacks and off-duty Police Officer and his friend after begging for money and being denied.

Within seconds, the officer is stabbed twice in the chest; twice in the legs and his friend is slashed across the face. All this happened to a veteran officer by an untrained attacker.

The 19-year veteran of the force was stabbed four times outside the Venture Inn, just after 11 p.m. Thursday, police said. The officer ...remained in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after having emergency surgery for two stab wounds in his chest and two in his legs…”

Read full story here: http://www.policeone.com/edged-weapons/articles/7002395-Arrest-made-in-stabbing-of-off-duty-Philly-officer/


Now watch this video. It depicts the realities of a knife attack in a scenario situation. They specifically addresses letting people get too close to you when begging g for money as happened to the Officer in the news story:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHIXRWxNn3c
 

Police engage/shoot man threatening with two knives

Graphic Video: not for the kiddos

APD engage man brandishing and threatening with two knives after standoff. FBs deployed with little effect. K-( engages and then is pulled off. SB dies next day from gunshots.

http://www.policeone.com/edged-weapons/articles/7005549-New-video-Helmet-cam-captures-fatal-NM-standoff/

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Saturday, March 22, 2014

distance and reaction time in a knife attack

For those who attended the civ class last night, here is the video I told you about that really demonstrates the realities of close-quarters and a knife attack.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHIXRWxNn3c

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Knife-wielding man killed after stabbing SWAT member


PACIFICA, Calif. — A man was shot and killed by officers Tuesday evening after he stabbed a SWAT team member as the squad rushed into a San Pedro Avenue home following a six-hour standoff that started when family members reported the suspect acting erratically shortly before noon, police said.

 

Pacifica police were called to the 300 block of San Pedro Avenue when family members said the 34-year-old man was in the backyard exhibiting paranoid behavior, possibly armed with an ax.

 

Arriving officers found the man, who would not obey commands from police and brandished the ax at them. They tried to take him into custody but the man ran into his home and barricaded himself inside, police said.

 

Police learned that the holed-up man may have had access to a rifle and ammunition that was hidden in the house, and surrounding homes were evacuated as a precaution. Police tried to communicate with the man, at one point throwing a phone into the residence for him to pick up as well as talking through a public address system. 

They got no response. By this time, Pacifica police had been joined by the Daly City SWAT team.

After unsuccessfully using unspecified "distraction devices" to try and get the man out of the house, officers went in, which is when one was stabbed by the suspect, who had armed himself with a knife.

"In defense of the injured SWAT member the suspect was fired upon and was determined deceased at the scene," according to a police news release.

The injured officer was taken to a hospital for treatment with wounds that are not considered life-threatening.

No additional information was available late Tuesday, and the matter is under investigation by Pacifica and Daly City police as well as the San Mateo County District Attorney's Office.

http://www.policeone.com/SWAT/articles/6988553-Knife-wielding-Calif-man-killed-after-stabbing-SWAT-member/





















Friday, March 14, 2014

ForceScience newsletter #251:

ForceScience newsletter #251:

Some surprises about attacks against police officers

It's no surprise that a high percentage of people who physically attack cops are intoxicated. But what about these co-findings from a newly published study on violence against LEOs:

• Proportionate to their numbers, females pose a greater risk for attacking you than do males;

• You're in greatest danger of be...ing set upon when other officers are present; and

• The type of call you're on has no significant bearing on whether you will be assaulted.

These conclusions have emerged from a research team's in-depth examination of the batteries experienced by patrol personnel of the Orlando (FL) PD, an agency with more than 700 officers who work the streets in vehicles, on foot, on horseback, and on bicycles. More thoroughly than many, that department collects detailed information for its own use on "every reported incident in which force is used," regardless of whether the confrontation resulted in an arrest or in injury to any party.

The researchers analyzed three consecutive years of that data trove to identify the salient circumstances surrounding force deployment, as well as demographic characteristics of the offenders and officers involved. Their full, 18-page study, "Battered Police: Risk Factors for Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers," reported in the journal Violence and Victims, can be purchased for a fee (Click here to go to the order page) and an abstract of their findings can be accessed there free of charge.

"Most prior research on violence against officers has examined cases of police assault ending in an officer's death," writes the study's lead author, Dr. Michele Covington, with the CJ department at the University of South Carolina-Upstate. Studies of batteries that produce lesser injuries "have been far less prevalent, although this type of injury is much more common and costs police agencies, and ultimately taxpayers, vast amounts of money and other resources, [as well as] emotional and physical costs to the officers themselves. [We wanted] to learn more about these relatively common incidents" and their training implications.

VIOLENCE BASICS. In the data, the study team found 391 reported cases in which, collectively, 457 officers were battered. A total of 216 officers were injured across 173 of these cases. More than half the attacks occurred on weekends, with 60% erupting between 2100 and 0300 hours.

Attackers tended to be heavier than normal, as measured by their body mass index. With an average age of 29, they were typically about five years younger than the average victim officer. Racially, roughly the same percentage of assailants (43%) were white as were black. Adding to the offender profile, the researchers calculated that "the odds of officer battery were about 40% higher when the offender was known to have recently consumed alcohol."

Officers with certain demographics tended to be "overrepresented among those battered," the researchers found. Male officers, for example, comprise 84% of the Orlando street force, yet they constituted more than 90 per cent of those battered. Likewise, about 60% of OPD's officers are white, yet they made up more than 70% of those attacked. (Hispanics, on the other hand, comprise 16% of OPD's officer population but only 6% of those assaulted.)

SURPRISES. "Although most of the results...were expected, a few findings were surprising," Covington writes. Among the unexpected discoveries:

• "[C]ases involving female offenders were much more likely to involve officer battery than those involving male offenders," the researchers report. This seems "contrary to the logic that males are generally more aggressive than females." Yet it appears that "gender does not significantly predict suspect resistance."

An earlier study has found that "females are generally more likely to be disrespectful of officers than are males." Exactly why women are "more likely to act outside of 'traditional female behavior' " by interacting violently with police requires further investigation, Covington says.

[Note of clarification: The researchers are not saying that officers are battered more often by females than by males, in terms of sheer numbers. As they acknowledge, the opposite is true. But the study calculates that of the total number of female suspects you encounter, a much higher percentage will attack you, compared to the percentage of all the males you deal with. In other words, the odds of women becoming physically aggressive are significantly greater.]

• "Incidents involving single officers were actually significantly less likely to involve officer battery," Covington notes. Specifically, the odds of battery were more than 90% higher when multiple officers were involved.

"It seems that there would be safety in numbers," Covington observes. But perhaps multiple officers are present because the situation is inherently "more volatile and potentially dangerous" than more ordinary calls. Or perhaps the presence of more cops, rather than proving intimidating, makes an offender feel "the need to act offensively to gain control..., to save face, or to escape.

Once a uniformed officer comes onto a scene," Covington speculates, "it is the appearance of the uniform acting as a master status...that increases the likelihood that she/he will be the target of an offender's anger. Having multiple officers present, therefore, only exacerbates the situation...."

Interestingly, the research team found that incidents with multiple offenders "were not statistically more likely to involve officer battery than those with single offenders."

• The group also found "no evidence [that] the type of call that officers were responding to was a significant factor in predicting the battery of officers." Covington concedes that this is contrary to the lore that domestic violence and traffic stops are particularly dangerous to police, but she claims that other studies also have found "little or weak relationships between [overall] officer violence and call type."

TACTICAL/TRAINING IMPLICATIONS. In concluding their report, the researchers highlight some of the tactical and training implications of their findings--good observations that can easily be shared as roll call reminders.

1. In light of the fact that multiple-officer responses seem more conducive to attacks," officers should not think and act complacently simply because they outnumber the suspects." Nor should they "rely on sheer numbers or strength to control a situation because they assume offenders will be intimidated. Clearly this is not the case...."
2. "[O]fficer training should teach the need to be on guard against physical danger from women, as well as men.... [Officers] should not assume that women are 'gentler' or less likely than men to assault or batter them."
3. "The impulsiveness and uninhibited behavior of intoxicated suspects [call] for "increased vigilance by officers. Even someone who is highly intoxicated and lacks the coordination to walk a straight line may still have the strength and willingness to pull a trigger or take a swing at an officer."
4. "[W]ell-trained officers know that physical confrontation should be avoided whenever possible by using verbal skills or any other means available."

Although the Force Science Institute was not involved in this study, Executive Director Dr. Bill Lewinski adds another training point to Covington's list, relative to attacks that occur when multiple officers are present.

"We need to do a better job of teaching officers how to work as a team in conflict situations," he says. "When a threatening encounter presents itself to a group of officers, there's an unfortunate tendency for each officer to react according to his or her own training or impulse rather than as an organized group with each member having a designated role in controlling and defusing the situation. The result, too often, is a poorly coordinated response and a greater potential for injury.

"Team tactics for line officers should be part of every academy and in-service training program."

Thursday, March 13, 2014

10 common CQB mistakes


 

10 Common Mistakes In CQB

 

by AJ ARANGO

 

I recently got back from a training iteration for work and I noticed that a lot of us kept making the same simple mistakes so I decided to make a list of ten of them so we can avoid them and strengthen the force. I decided to leave out the obvious stuff like “fatal funnels” and not digging corners but instead included some of the big stuff that doesn’t get as much attention.

 

disclaimer: I have no egoic investment in being the greatest CQB warrior on the planet. I know there are hundreds of guys out there who have forgotten more about CQB than I will ever know, but that being said, I think I am a pretty good teacher and I feel I have enough training, instruction experience, and combat experience to talk intelligently on the subject. Also I have taken great pains to exclude any classified information or non-open source intel so as to not give away any TTPs that you can not find on ‘Youtube’ or the like. Please take this as a guide and not doctrine and if you think something I put out violates common sense or is just plain wrong feel free to throw it out cause heaven knows I have no problem blowing off bad tactics myself. Also I am not talking about other people exclusively, I have made most if not all of these mistakes myself not only in training but, also in combat.

 

 Close Quarters Combat:  What is CQB?

 

CQB for those who aren’t familiar with the term stands for Close-Quarters-Battle or Close-Quarters-Combat and in the grand scheme of things I think it falls somewhere between combat from street corner to street corner, to hand-to-hand fighting. I would say if you think you can engage accurately in combat using your pistol with a high degree of precision then you are in CQB range.

 

The following is a short (not exhaustive) list of mistakes I regularly see guys make in CQB with hopefully a few gems to improve combat skills and tactics.

 

10. Hesitation

 

The confused look you see in the eyes of your buddies when he decides whether to go or stay is an indicator that he has reached his mental or physical capacity to solve the CQB problem. At its root CQB is about angles, opportunity and percentages. Not every tactic works in every situation and often times you can do the exact right thing and take a round to the trauma plate anyway. The CQB skills are based on the most likely course of action you need to take to have the highest chance of survivability and it is not a 100% solution because nothing is. So the question becomes, can you mentally negotiate the problem at a speed that provides the highest success rate. Often times for guys who are new to the tactics the answer is, “no” and when this happens there is an introduction of hesitation that gives the opposition force advantage.

 

I feel the solution is multifaceted, but starts with repetition of SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) and making sure everyone is dancing to the same sheet of music. Having a well established and planned SOP before you get out to the training site is imperative, making sure everyone understands those SOP’s  intellectually will save hours in the glass house or shoot house. Secondly I think some mental rehearsal just prior to execution of an IMT (Individual Movement Technique) can greatly speed the learning process. If you are beyond the training environment you may simply have to move the offending team member to a location in the stack to where he is no longer in a position to slow the flow. This removal should be done in a non judgemental way and used as a training tool and not a means of ridicule or you will create an environment where failure is so feared that no one will have the courage to do anything.

 

9. Rabbiting/One-Man Room Clearing

 

Rabbiting is a situation where the number one man starts off so fast that no one has the time to catchup conversely a one-man room clear is when the number two-man just plan drops the ball and sends the number one man off into danger areas alone. The reaction time of a bad guy in a room is very fast and it should be within that time that number two-man is able to get in and provide support. If number one man runs into a danger area and doesn’t give two-man a chance to catch up it can be very bad and conversely if number two-man sort of gets behind the power curve  and allows number one man to go it alone there can be dire consequences.

 

Number one man needs to recognize that the guys behind him have to react to his movement before they can go so moving at below normal combat speed can mitigate that break in contact. Number two-man has to be on the ball, he needs to have the situational awareness that number one man can’t get, number two-man needs to be ready to go and support his number one man.

 

Room Clearing Sometimes Involves Chemlights8. Chemlights Don’t Pull Security

 

Okay I know this sounds dumb, but I see it all the time. Often when an assault team clears a room they will mark the room with a Chemlight to let others know that friendlies have cleared it already, or so they know the status of that room. If for some reason you lose eyes on that “cleared” room and have to pass it again to get out of the structure or to conduct a secondary search you need to re clear that room. The Chemlight is glowing because it is full of Predator blood but what it is not doing is keeping that room safe. Any number of things can happen when your team leaves the room, so if you need to go by or reenter that room be sure to respect the threat.

 

7. Find a Hole Fill a Hole

 

Like I said earlier, CQB is a solution to a very complex problem, to include the angles, levels and shooter’s solutions; be flexible enough to fill in the blanks. If you see a team-mate drop a threat or blow off an important danger area do not stop the operation to argue about what he should have done, just do your part to fix the omission.  Many structures provide overwhelming threats and you arguing about who should do what will jeopardize your security and could cost you your life.  So if you find a hole in the team security posture or a hole in mission tasks just fill the hole. If you find yourself standing in the middle of a structure or threat area with nothing to do then, do it quick and go pull security.

 

6. Getting So Amped You Loose Your Mind

 

Combat is stressful and stress will cause an increase in your heart rate, an increased heart rate can cause tunnel vision and tunnel vision will kill you. If you are in a tough scrape and the world looks as if you are viewing it through a toilet paper roll then you need to calm down and get you situational awareness back on line. Take a deep breath do a 360 to make sure you aren’t standing in a window or silhouetting a danger area and take inventory of what is going on. Often when we get amped up we don’t even know it so be sure to monitor your buddies for this kind of behavior.

 

5. You Don’t Need To Turn Your Head To Talk

 

This one may not kill you, but it is definitely a pet peeve of mine so I am including it. I know we grew up in a society that really values eye contact and outside of the CQB environment go nuts creeping people out with an icy stare, but in a house if your job is to lock down a crack in the door that sees the hallway please don’t turn to me to tell me you think you see something. Here is an experiment: go to the kitchen with your wife, face away from her so you can’t see her and tell her you are thinking of calling your ex girlfriend to give her make-up tips, if you get hit in the head with a frying pan then you never have to take your eyes off your assigned threat again.

 

In Combat Training Don't be That Guy

 

4. “Break the Wrist and Walk Away”

 

If you have spent more than five minutes in the profession you have most likely met this guy. This is the guy who for whatever reason is teaching you and your team about CQB or Shooting or Tactics in general that knows absolutely everything there is to know about armed conflict, just ask him. This guy will get you killed! He is so wrapped up in the idea that he is awesome that he will not answer any questions or explain why he does anything the way he does it. There are a ton of guys that are teaching skills they don’t understand and only teach them because someone told them it was a good technique. Of all the stuff and BS you have to deal with getting this guy out of your training cycle will work wonders for the team. I try very hard to be open-minded and you would be hard pressed to get me in a tactical school where I couldn’t walk away learning something. There are no Jedi knights and no one left their parents on Krypton, so if we all just ratchet it back a bit and ask “WHY do we do it that way?” maybe we can learn something. That being said if you have no idea what is going on just do as your told by someone you trust to lead you.

 

Aside: I was doing training with a guy for hand-to-hand and when asked why he likes the palm strike so much he said “because I learned all the martial arts in the world and I took out all the stuff that doesn’t work.” This is a guy who when I asked him to spar told me that he “trains to be lethal and doesn’t want to kill me.” My answer to guys like that is “really bro….” (confused look)

 

3. Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast

 

Here is one I know we have all heard and to my analytical mind I interpret it as Slow=Smooth, Smooth=Fast, therefore Slow=Fast. Well slow isn’t fast in fact “slow” is the opposite of “fast” I looked it up in the dictionary. This is a saying that has floated around for a while and some of the guys I consider legends, who I really respect, who I would pay hundreds of dollars to learn basic skills from say this all the time.

 

Aside: I don’t think there is a such thing as basic skills and advanced skills I think there are basic skills done well and basic skills done poorly.

 

Doing skills slowly can provide a smoothness that being a spazz won’t allow, and yes when you see a masterful practitioner do a skill fast it also looks super smooth. I would say that “slow is smooth and speed is a product of the economy of motion.” So to sum it up: don’t be a spazz, do practice your skills, and when you have mastered those skills you should be able to move smoothly and quickly.

 

2. Speed is Your Only Security

 

Speed, is one of the basic principles of Close Quarters Combat: Speed, Surprise, and Violence of Action. That being said speed is not the only principle and if you are so worried about going fast that you lose security you are going to have a real problem. Never outrun your headlights, do not think that speed can compensate for poor security. Speed is an enhancer like sugar in your coffee, but you still need the beans and water to make it work. I see guys charge head long into complex scenarios that they have no chance of getting out of. I have made this mistake a ton due to frustration, or fear, or plain stupidity. You can regain the initiative with explosives, gas, distraction or misdirection etc. You do not need to be a team of guys running around like your hair is on fire unless you are trained to be incredibly fast (read this as Tier 1 operator with huge budgets, training apparatus, raw skill, advanced selection and support to execute huge amounts of training in which case you don’t need or want my advice on CQB anyway) So be deliberate, methodical, calculated and competent. If you master the skills speed will happen as a natural byproduct.

 

1.Playing Pic a Boo With Bad Guys

 

Great guys get killed because for some reason they decide to engage in a fair fight with the bad guys. Often we will gain entry into the breach point and get a foot hold in a structure, at the same time the bad guys get out of bed and decide to engage us. If we are in the first room let’s say and he is in the far room and he shoots we will go  to a position that provides cover and return fire. If there is a linear danger area separating these two places (read this as hallway, stairwell, etc) we will sit on one side and he will sit on the other and we will play pic a boo together until someone gets hit. This game is deadly, it will kill 50% of the people who play it and it is totally unnecessary. If he is there and you are here do not engage in a fair fight. If you are overseas throw your damn frags at him, use an AT-4, get out the m-203, have someone place a charge on an exterior wall to the room he is in, if ROE allows break contact and kinetically reduce the structure, please do not play this game. If you are in the US in a law enforcement capacity you can yell changing magazines (when you have ammo) drop elevation out of the gun line and get him when he shows himself, use Gas, have snipers take a shot, fill the house with bees for all I care just don’t attempt to fight fair in a gun fight it is dumb and can make your wife a widow.

Monday, March 10, 2014

Suicide by Cop: New trend?


Suicide by Cop:

New trend? Maybe not, but seems to be happening more and more often. What a horrible thing to do. If you want to end your life, that is between you and your God. But don’t make another human being shoulder that weight.

 Two recent stories: The first has video which is graphic and not for the kids:


Thursday, March 6, 2014

PoliceOne article on UOF


Good article on the over and under use of force by LEOs

http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/6239862-Use-of-force-How-much-is-enough/

My dog Leo

Pretty cool. Thought I would share...

The morning routine, where is LEO?
            This morning I got up early and meandered to the kitchen. I started up the coffee pot and looked out the window to check on the stock. The sheep were all in their pen; some still sleeping and huddled together to fend off the morning chill; others munching on some feed. It was a chilly morning with snow still on the ground, and a wondrous sunrise climbing the sky. I looked around the yard for my dog LEO but did not see him anywhere in sight. I walked to the door, cracked it open and whistled twice; our code to come in for breakfast. No LEO. This was odd because LEO, being a big dog, loves his food. I whistled again and still no LEO. I began to worry a bit.

About LEO:
            Now I don’t typically fret much about LEO. He is a big dog; abnormally big for his breed. LEO runs about 120 lbs and is a mean looking mangy dog. His primary breed is Australian Shepard; but I believe he has Wolverine blood in him. He is ultimately protective over his territory - and all in it. The sheep and chickens don’t like him much because, frankly, he smells of violence and is a mean looking beast. Mangy might be an understatement and he won’t win any dog shows any time soon. Like I said, he is big! Huge pads with sharp claws and I swear his front canines are three inches long. And if he has ever been scared, you would never know it by his demeanor. Yet he is also one of the gentlest creatures I have known. I have watched him let the kids pelt him with snowballs, ride him, try to wrestle him and generally play the kind of tricks that kids like to play with him. He has never so much as flinched or even shown a hint of annoyance with them. But I would not want him angry or hunting me. There is a violent, protector lurking just under his fur. You can see predator there in his eyes when he senses danger.

Finding LEO
            Like I said, I don’t fret much for LEO. I know he can handle himself. After all, we live in the hills and LEO is not exactly tame; more of a wild creature who tolerates us. None the less, I dressed, grabbed the shotgun and went looking for LEO. Why a shotgun you ask? Like I mentioned we live in the wilderness where it pays to be prepared. There are always predators out there looking for an easy snack. Bear, big cats, and the wolves make death and danger a daily worry.

            I made my way into the shadows of the woods that surround our little farm. I kept whistling for LEO. Finally, I heard movement in the brush and raised my shotgun, just in case. Out came LEO looking like he had been in a tussle. He was missing part of his ear and walking with a limp and covered in blood; not his. Yet, he had that smug look of contentment that told me whatever he had fought with was worse off. I rubbed his head and let him lead me to where he had battled. There lying in the snow was a dead wolf with his belly torn out. There was also a heavy blood trail leading off into the woods; not doubt some other wolf is rethinking trying to steal our sheep or chickens.

            We walked back to the house where I tended LEO’s wounds and fed him an extra big breakfast. Then, without a look back, LEO went outside to start his rounds. Because, that is what LEO does. He protects his territory and the sheep. Today the sheep didn’t baah at him. Even though he is scary, they seemed to sense that he had fought to protect them this morning.
 
L.E.O.
            That is what our Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) do every day. They go out and protect the sheep. They smell of violence and look mean with all the weapons they carry. They don’t show fear in the face of danger and they don’t expect much in return. They lay it on the line to fend off and, if necessary kill the predators out there who hunt the sheep. And every now and then, the sheep recognize what they do. Thanks LEO.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

SIMs training - reality of knife attack

Great video from VATA groups "First Person Defender" video series. Depicts the realities of a spontaneous knife attack; reaction time and perceptual distortions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHIXRWxNn3c